


To Bring You Home Again

by ChronusCapricius



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Attempted Murder, Dark Past, Dreams, Drug Abuse, Hospital, LawLu - Freeform, M/M, Murder, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicide thoughts, Violence, dark memories, mafia, shit tons of angst, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronusCapricius/pseuds/ChronusCapricius
Summary: Trafalgar D. Law is one of the best surgeons at his hospital, he's saved countless people on the verge of death a lot of times, which earned him the reputation of Surgeon of Death. His life wasn't really the best, but it wasn't the worst. At least, not anymore. It wasn't until Monkey D. Luffy arrives badly injured at his hospital does his life changes and for some strange reason, he feels like he's met Luffy before.Dark Modern AU-ish





	1. ~00~

Trafalgar Law remembered the feeling of desperation that rushed through his veins when that charismatic and warm boy was brought to his hospital. He remembered how extremely injured the boy had been and was in need of a surgery,  ** _ASAP_**. Law remembered how, not really knowing what came over him, yelled orders and desperately tried to keep the boy alive. Something deep inside him begged him to save the boy and Law remembers surprising himself that day.

"Doctor, He's losing too much blood! I don't think he can-"

**"He. Will. NOT. Die** " Law said through gritted teeth and felt tears of anger (probably frustration too) threaten to fall from his face. None of his colleagues had seen him that desperate to save the boy, but at the time, nobody wanted to question it. In the end, Law managed to save his life after hours of being in surgery.

Trafalgar Law remembered that night when Bepo told him that the boy's life he had just saved was not alone when he was in the accident and that someone else was there with him too. He remembered asking his friend where the person was and if he needed to be taken to urgencies, but Bepo frowned and looked grimly at the sleeping boy covered in bandages through the window.

"He didn't make it, by the time we got there he was already dead" Bepo's words felt heavy and Law wasn't sure on how to tell the boy the news considering the state he was in. But Law still remembered the first night he had looked out for the boy; that night, the boy suddenly rose up and crying yelled (what he believes to be) the dead person's name.

"ACE! ACE!" Law, as gently as possible, pushed the boy down to the bed and tell him to calm down. Since the bandages also covered his eyes, the boy was scared of where he was and what had happened before the incident. All he remembers is Ace's dead body on top of his and the sound of sirens getting near.

"It's okay, you're safe" Law whispered softly. The boy stopped struggling and just sobbed quietly as Law took a step away from him. "Do you know who you are?"

The boy sobbed and whimper. "Ace... Ace..."

Law sighed internally and waited for the boy to cried it all out. "That was the man who was with you at the time of the accident, wasn't he?"

The boy weakly nodded and Law started to remove the wet bandages from his eyes to replace them with new ones. The boy could hardly see a thing, everything was blurry to him, but he felt somewhat at ease knowing he wasn't alone in a scary unknown place.

"What's your name?" Law tried again as he put new bandages on the boy's eyes. Law heard the boy say something under his breath, but couldn't quite catch what he said. "Sorry, what?"

"Lu... ffy..." The boy said weakly, his voice barely audible now. Law felt like he's been in this kind of situation before, but he wasn't really sure about it. Ever since then, Law had always been paying night visits to Luffy and see how he is doing. His friends and grandpa started to visit him in the daytime, but it's only at nighttime where Luffy cried in Law's presence.

"Ace is gone" Luffy cried out. "Ace will never return"

Law only listened to him and let the boy cried before changing the wet bandages from his eyes every time. Those dark times are the ones he will never forget, especially as he is breathing his last breath right now.

"I'm sorry, Mugiwara-ya... I failed to keep our promise..." Law said hoarsely as he felt his eyes closed and memories of a smiling Luffy flashed before him.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Sorry it took me so long guys, some things got in my way but I'm finally free!**

                _The waves crashed against each other and the smell of salt water hit Law’s nose. He groaned and opened his eyes a little, but everything in his eyesight was blurry for some odd reason. He was about to close his eyes again when he noticed a bright red spot in front of him. Law knew who it belonged to and soon enough the blurry figure of the straw hat in the other person’s head came into sight._

_“What?” Law’s eyes widened, but his blurry eyesight never left and he wondered if he had received a black eye or something. He crawled towards the person wearing the straw hat and tried to reach a hand towards them, but the person smacked his hand away._

_“Don’t move too much, Torao,” they said. “As soon as the sun hits, Chopper will cure your injuries”_

_Law huffed and felt his breath getting heavier and heavier as the minutes went by “No…” he groaned in pain, a pain that wasn’t there before. The smell of blood was now filling Law’s nose and he felt a big pain in his lower abdomen and left shoulder. Law reached again towards the person, but his eyelids felt extremely heavier. “Please… don’t…” the world around Law fell in darkness, but his lips continue moving and Law cursed himself for not being able to be strong enough._

* * *

 

Can you do me a favor?

Can you please let me go and pretend nothing happened between us?

* * *

 

                Law snapped his eyes opened as he gasped for air. He sat up and tried to calm himself down. He looked around and noticed he was still in the on-call room. He sighed as stood up from the couch and looked at the clock hanging from the wall. It was 3: 22 a.m. and he needed to start going to his office before it was 4.

                “Oh, good morning, Law” Bepo greeted him once he left the room. Law nodded in acknowledgment and walked back to his office. Once inside, he plopped down on his chair and looked up at the ceiling with an expressionless face. His dreams are getting weirder and weirder, ever since he kept dreaming of himself in some sort of boat, the fear of going to the ocean increased. Which was weird, since he didn’t even mind the water the rare times he’d gone to the beach and he knows the basics of swimming.

                There was a knock on his door and Law just told the person to come in. “Good morning, Captain!” a tall woman with dark brown curls and dark chocolate brown eyes said with a smile on her face.

                “What is it, Ikkaku?”

                “Just checking up on you! You didn’t show up last night when we invited you for a drink and we got worried” Ikkaku said with a pout. Law rolled his eyes and looked at her with a tired expression.

                “I don’t have time for that, Ikkaku”

                “When will you have time to relax and hang out with your friends?” Ikkaku said with a sigh. Law shrugged and rested his chin on his right hand.

                “Is that why you came to my office?”

                Ikkaku took the seat in front of Law’s desk. “We were talking about you yesterday and we are worried that you might be overworking yourself”

                Law raised an eyebrow at Ikkaku. It’s not like it wasn’t somewhat true, he did take his days off. However, Law felt weird not doing something and having something to do at the hospital comforted him. In a weird way, but it was comforting nonetheless.

                “Relax, it’s not like I’m getting sick or anything”

                “When was the last time to went back home?” Ikkaku asked as she folded her arms. Law opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Huh, that was actually a good question. He remembers going to his apartment to take a shower, change clothes and come back to the hospital but he doesn’t remember if he had done that yesterday or Monday of this week. “See? You are overworking yourself!”

                Law frowned. “I’m fine Ikkaku”

                “Are you?” Ikkaku started. “Ever since that boy came to the hospital two and a half months you changed”

                _Two and a half months, huh?_ Law thought. Two and a half months his dreams started to happen. Then, he started to visit the boy every night and talked to him until he had to go back home. However, Law’s dream didn’t stop. “I’m fine, Ikkaku” Law said with an impatient tone.

                “Fine? You’re-”

                “ ** _I’m fine_** ” Law snarled as he glared at his colleague and friend. Any normal person would feel hurt and probably had left him alone, but none of his friends are normal. Ikkaku glared back at Law but didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

                “Well anyways, what was the deal with him?”

                “Didn’t you see? He was badly injured! There were open wounds everywhere and internal blee-”

                “That’s not what I’m referring to, jackass” Ikkaku said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like you to get so worked up about a patient like that,” she said with narrowed eyes. Law tensed up a little, something Ikkaku found unusual.

                “Your point is?”

                “Do you have a history with this patient?” Ikkaku asked, getting a little curious about Law’s personal life. Law shook his head and folded his arms as well.

                “Of course not, it was my first time seeing him”

                Ikkaku hummed as she looked at Law with a smirk on her face. “Is that so? Why the night visits then?”

                If Law had been drinking water at that moment, he probably would have choked. “What are you talking about?”

                “Playing dumb, I see” Ikkaku chuckled as she stood up. “Don’t worry nobody else knows about your little visits,” She said with a wink and walked towards the door. Law wanted to clarify that he had no idea who Monkey D. Luffy was prior to that day, but Ikkaku had already walked out the door.

                “Great, just great” Law mumbled as he rested his face on his hands. It was true that he didn’t know who the boy was before he got taken to emergencies, but Ikkaku _saw_ Law visiting the boy every night since the accident. It was embarrassing and humiliating since he had a very strict and proud reputation in the hospital. He’s never once visited other patients of his just to talk or listen to their problems. As cold as he might be, he needed to work and do his job properly.

                _And yet, I did the contrary to my values with Luffy_ Law thought and wanted to die at that moment. Law doesn’t know what came over him; something inside him just pulled him towards Luffy. Like he shouldn’t leave his sight off of Luffy or else… or else what was going to happen to him? It’s not like Law knew him that well, at least not compared to the million friends that had come over to visit Luffy.

                “Maybe it’s a coincidence,” Law said. The dreams and Luffy couldn’t be the same since Luffy didn’t have a straw hat when he was admitted to the hospital. But something deep inside him told him that he did and that he shouldn’t leave his side so recklessly like that.

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      _Luffy panted as he ran and ran, Ace’s back was facing him and Luffy wished he could be like Elastic Girl from the Incredibles and grabbed his shirt. Luffy didn’t know why they were running, but Ace told him that they needed to run and Luffy didn’t question his brother. He glanced back, wondering if someone was following them, but there was no one suspicious that could have done it. Only people passing by staring at them with weird looks on their face._

_“Ace!” Luffy yelled as he turned his sight back to his brother, but he had disappeared. Luffy stopped running and tilted his head in confusion. “Ace? Where did you go?” He asked with a frown on his face. He didn’t know if all the running was just a prank of his or if he had lost sight of him for real. Luffy shrugged and turned back to walk towards Sanji’s restaurant, but noticed there was another Luffy standing meters away from him._

_“Woah! Another me” Luffy exclaimed as he pointed at his other self. His other self was just wearing an open, long sleeved red cardigan with four buttons with a yellow sash tied around his waist, shorts and sandals. Unlike the original Luffy who was wearing a simple red shirt with some shorts and sandals. “Wait, if you are me… then who is the original one!?” Luffy shouted with a terrified expression._

_“You let him die” The Luffy with the weird looking outfit said, his expression mad._

_“I have the same scar as you!” The modern looking Luffy said pointing to the other’s ‘X’ scar on his chest. The weird looking Luffy stretched his arms over to where the modern looking Luffy was and let out an amazing sound. “You can stretch like Elastic Girl!”_

_“ **Why did you let him die again!?**_ ” _The second Luffy shouted in anger. The first Luffy looked at him surprised and frowned. He was about to say something, but all of a sudden he was lifted off the ground and everything around him changed from the city streets to a boat and an ocean._

_“What’s going on?”_

_“ **You should have died instead and let Ace live for once** ,” the second Luffy said with a glare. The first Luffy stared at the other and felt as he was being thrown into the ocean. The first Luffy’s eyes widen and tried to swim, but he was unable to. He shouted for his other self for help, since he couldn’t swim. Oh god, he was going to drown. However, his other self just stared down at him and felt the burning sensation of his lungs being filled with water. His hand tried to reach for the surface once more, but he didn’t have any strength left._

* * *

 

What would happen if I refuse to your favor?

What if I don’t want to let you go and pretend as if everything we’d done together was nothing more than just an #$%&!/*°?

* * *

 

                Luffy opened his eyes and sat up. He looked over at the other bed on the other side of the room to notice his friend, Zoro, still sleeping. Luffy looked out the window and deduced that it was still night since the sky was still black. Luffy stood up and walked over to Zoro’s bed, not bothering to ask his roommate if he could sleep on his bed since he had a nightmare.

                “What the fuck are you doing?” Zoro asked him, not even opening his eyes. Luffy, who was midway to crossing to the side of the bed close to the wall, looked over at his friend.

                “I don’t want to sleep alone”

                “We are in the same room”

                “I know, but I feel like I might drown”

                “Drown?” Zoro opened his only good eye and looked at his friend with a confused frown. “We’ve been living in this boat for three years and **_now_** you worry about drowning?”

                Luffy blinked and shrugged. “Please Zoro?”

                Zoro stared at his friend for a few minutes, before closing his eye. “do whatever you like” Luffy smiled wide and finished settling on the bed, his shoulder touching Zoro’s. Luffy closed his eyes again and as soon as he felt back to sleep, Zoro opened his eye and glanced at his friend. It wasn’t unusual for Luffy to do this, well, somewhat. Ever since the accident, after he got out of the hospital, Luffy has been having nightmares of Ace.

                _What an idiot_ Zoro thought as he carefully stood up from his bed. Zoro is the only one aware of this since he is Luffy’s roommates and he knows that Luffy wouldn’t want others to know about his nightmares or show his weak side since he is the “leader” of their crew. Zoro walked up to Luffy’s bed and laid back on it. 

                Luffy tends to talk on his sleep and Zoro normally sleeps way too late even though he wakes up early, so it was no surprise when he heard Luffy quietly sob Ace’s name and murmur that name in his sleep. Under normal circumstances, Zoro would be sick and tired of hearing Luffy’s brother name, but he knows that Luffy is still in pain even after two and half months since the accident.

                “Torao… why you… laughing…” Luffy murmured in his sleep as he tossed around in Zoro’s bed. Zoro sighed; he forgot that right after Luffy had nightmares about Ace, when Luffy felt safer he would have dreams of this _Torao_ person.  _Who’s Torao anyways?_  Zoro thought as he felt sleep taking over him.

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                It was already afternoon and Law was on his lunch break, which usually meant that Law could go out to the hospital for some fresh air. There was a park near the hospital where he worked, so he always goes there for a walk. Today was Saturday and tomorrow he didn’t have any work unless it’s an emergency then he would need to show up.

                “Maybe I should go out somewhere tomorrow,” Law said and looked at his wristwatch. “Guess it’s time to go back,” He said and turned around to walk back to the hospital. The rest of the day went by so slowly it was killing Law. When he was finally out of the hospital, he went straight to his apartment. He took a cold and nice shower before going to bed, but before he went to sleep, he stayed awake for a while.

                _Maybe I shouldn’t go out tomorrow; it’s too bothersome to socialize with people_ Law thought. He was about to fall asleep when he received a text from Ikkaku, Law groaned and put it back on his nightstand table next to his bed. ‘ _Tomorrow you are coming with us for a drink’_ it’s what the text read. Well, at least Law could sleep late without worrying to wake up early in the morning since he was going out to drink with his friends’ tomorrow night.

                _The young boy traced with his slender finger the tattoos on Law’s hands. His curious and wide dark eyes made him looked younger despite being old enough already. Well, Law was glad that Luffy’s eyesight hadn’t been badly damaged that he could have gone blind or need glasses. Luffy was slowly recovering and that was good enough for Law, as a doctor of course._

_“Why death?”_

_“Hm?”_

_Luffy’s eyes turned to look at his and pouted. “Why did you tattoo death in your fingers?” Law felt a smirk form in his lips and couldn’t help but chuckle._

_“Do you know what my nickname is?”_

_Luffy hummed in thought before smiling wide at him and Law knew that he was going to say something stupid just by that smile. “Torao?”_

_Law sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”_

_“Did I guess right?” Luffy’s smile widened._

_“Of course not!” Law said. Luffy pouted for the second time that night and looked extremely disappointed. “They call me the surgeon of death”_

_“Torao sounds better”_

_“No, it doesn’t”_

_“It does”_

_“No, it doesn’t”_

_“It does”_

_“No”_

_“Yes” Luffy was grinning at Law and Law had his eyes narrowed at him. Law sighed and let Luffy do whatever he liked. Luffy laughed and touched his head, he stopped laughing and frowned. Then, he blinked and sighed as he lay back down; Law looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but didn’t ask him anything. It wouldn’t be professional of Law to get too involved with his patient’s personal life. Then again, he was doing these nightly visits to one of them._

_“Try to get some sleep,” Law said before standing up and walking towards the door. “Tomorrow you are allowed to go home” for some reason, Law found it hard to believe Luffy was already going back home. It was no surprise, Luffy was already in pretty good conditions, and the vulnerable Luffy was all in the past. So why did Law felt like that? He didn’t even know the boy like his friends do._

_“Oh” was all Luffy said and Law glanced at him before leaving the room. Now that Law thinks about it that was the last time he saw Luffy._

                Law woke up around 12 p.m. in the afternoon on Sunday. He still had shit tons of time before he decided to go to the same bar at the same time tonight with his friends. He stood up from his bed, changed clothes and grabbed himself something to eat before plopping down on his couch. What could he do to kill time? He’s an indoors person, but he doesn’t browse the internet much and nothing on the TV caught his attention.

                “Hmm, maybe I should just walk around the park near here… at least for a little while” Law said before grabbing his keys and locking the door to his apartment before walking out to the park. His apartment was extremely close to the hospital and although today was Sunday, he necessarily didn’t have to go to work. Unless an emergency happened and the hospital called him.

                “Mommy, what are they saying?” A little girl asked her mother as she pointed to two adults arguing in languages she didn’t understand. Law followed the girl’s gaze and noticed a blonde man arguing with a green haired one. Law knows this neighborhood like the back of this hand and the people who visit the park regularly know him as well. But he’s never seen those two around here before, even though they look familiar somehow.

                “One of them is speaking French and the other Japanese” Law commented. The little girl let out an amused ‘oh’ while the mother just smiled politely at Law. The fight was none of his business, so Law was going to decide to ignore it and walk somewhere else. Maybe even check the hospital just to pass time, but he heard a voice that was too familiar for him.

                “Ah, Torao! I knew you would be here!”

                Law turned around, the fight between the French guy and the Japanese guy stopped as both of them were looking at Torao with narrowed eyes. Next, to them, a few meters behind was none other than Luffy waving at him with a big smile. The mother sitting on the bench close to Law chuckled. “Friends of yours, Doctor Trafalgar?”

                “No, just an old patient”

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      Sundays were always exciting for Luffy, for Sunday was when the whole crew could hang out together. It’s not like they don’t see each other every day, they do when it’s dinner. But Sunday was when they could hang out together during the day without their jobs getting in the way. That’s how it normally would be, but last night he had a great idea during dinner. Everyone was as lively as ever and Luffy was stilling everyone’s food as usual when Brook mentioned that he had seen a doctor with tattoos on his hands when he went to the hospital that day with Chopper.

                “I’ve never seen a doctor with tattoos before! I thought you wouldn’t be hired if you had any” Brook said. Luffy had immediately stopped picking food from Usopp’s plate and stared at Brook with his dark onyx eyes.

                “You mean Torao?” He asked. At the mention of a _Torao_ Zoro glanced at Luffy and frowned.

                “You know the doctor Luffy?” He asked. Luffy had grinned wide and nodded as he told everyone how Law had been the one to save his life and that he had been there for him every night until he could go back home.

                Nami narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Luffy. “How come he wasn’t present when we first came to see you?”

                Luffy shrugged. “Gramps saw him though,” which would be obvious since Garp was the first one at the hospital, which meant that Garp was the only one whom Law explained Luffy’s state before running off somewhere else.

                “Yohohoho, so Luffy knows the tattooed doctor?”

                “Shishishi, yup”

                Sanji sighed and smacked away Luffy’s hand when he tried to steal some of his food. “Why bring it up, Brook? The dude has only some tattoos on his hands, it’s nothing neither new nor interesting”

                Brook shrugged. “Well, I guess that’s true”

                “Torao is a great guy, Y'all should meet him!” Luffy said and then something inside Luffy’s head clicked. “Hey, that’s a great idea!”

                “Oh no,” Nami commented as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

                “Let’s all visit him tomorrow!”

                “What makes you think this Torao guy works tomorrow?” Nami asked, knowing that once Luffy had an idea in mind, he would never back down from it. Yet she still had hopes that by some miracle Luffy changed his mind from meeting a complete stranger who may or may not be suspicious at all to all of them going shopping for new clothes. But it was impossible since Luffy didn’t give two shits about clothes or being fashionable.

                “He will and if not, Brook can figure out where he lives since he is a detective”

                “That’s debatable,” Brook said as he took a sip from his tea. And so, it was because of Luffy that everyone’s Sunday was to go and see the doctor who saved Luffy’s life. After breakfast, Franky drove them to the park near the hospital saying that they should walk around to make some time since the doctor could be busy.

                “Luffy, are you sure we can trust this guy? Chopper told me that he had **Death** tattooed on his fingers” Sanji said, getting a little worried. What was a guy like that doing in a hospital anyways? Won’t his patient be afraid of a doctor like that? And besides whom in the world tattoos the word Death on them?

                “You afraid or something, shitty cook?” Zoro commented as he folded his arms and glared at Sanji. Sanji glared back at him and stomped over to where Zoro was.

                “Me? Afraid? I think you should be the one to be afraid, moss head” Sanji said. Luffy laughed at his friends’ shenanigans and watched how both of them start to argue before switching to their native language midsentence. Nami, feeling embarrassed, sat down on the bench next to Robin while the Usopp tried to calm them down and Brook was standing next to Chopper. Franky had gone somewhere to bring everyone drinks, Brook noticed a certain doctor standing a few meters away from them.

                “Oh look Luffy, that’s the doctor who saved your life”

                “Where!?” Luffy glanced around and noticed the familiar back of the person he’s been looking for, even if he didn’t have his white coat. “Ah, Torao! I knew you would be here!” The fight between Sanji and Zoro stopped. Zoro narrowed his eyes at the guy; he had dark circles under his eyes and looked like a straight up criminal since the doctor wasn’t carrying his coat today. But, Zoro knows better than to judge a book by its cover. He mentally groaned at how Perona’s words had actually worked on him.

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                Law didn’t know if he should run away or face his one of his ex-patients. In this kind of situations, he regrets deeply ever going out of his apartment. Law should have stayed inside and done some random shit instead of bumping into Luffy. He sighed; he figured that there was no point in running away and it would look weird for him to do so anyway.

                “What brings you here,” Law said and noticed the straw hat Luffy’s head. Without realizing it, the words slipped his mouth. “Mugiwara-ya” Realizing his mistake, he was going to apologize and call Luffy by his proper name but Luffy just smiled wide at him and laughed.

                “I came here to visit you, Torao,” he said. “And introduce you to my crew”

                “Is that so?” Law said, feeling like there was something wrong here. “But why would you want to do that if we barely know each other?”

                Luffy frowned. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

                Law felt like someone had punched him hard and left him without air, because that what it felt like when Luffy said the word _friends_. “I’m sorry, what?”

                “Everyone, I want you to meet Torao!” Luffy shouted as he gathered his friends’ attention. Franky had come back in time for Luffy to introduced Law. Law, on the other hand, felt like killing himself. He didn’t have any fucking clue of what was going on or why the boy whom he saved told him that they were friends without really knowing each other. Well… they only talked when they were in the hospital but it wasn’t enough for Law to consider Luffy his friend.

                “So you’re the Torao he’s been talking about, eh?”

                “Torao this is Zoro, he is a police officer,” Luffy said. _Has he been talking about me with his crew? Fuck_ Law thought. Zoro gave out his right hand to Law and looked at him with a frowned.

                “Nice to meet you”

                Law gave a firm handshake to Zoro. “Nice to meet you too, I guess? I’m Law by the way, not Torao”

                Zoro nodded and smirked. “I see” Law couldn’t and didn’t want to imagine what Zoro might be thinking about him. For some unknown reason, he was forced to greet and introduced himself _properly_ to Luffy’s close friends. Clarifying that his name was Trafalgar D. Law and not Torao, but Luffy didn’t even listen to him. 

                “Say Torao, why don’t you hand out with us?” Luffy said, putting all his attention on Law. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper let out a loud ‘eeeh!?’ after that. Law felt a little uncomfortable feeling someone giving him attention like that and it was an ex-patient nonetheless. Law doesn’t think it would be professional of him to get this close to him.

                “Sorry, Mugiwara-ya” Law started. “I already have plans for today, maybe next time,” He said and then cursed himself mentally when he realized he had said next time to a fucking stranger. Well, technically Luffy was no stranger. They had met at the hospital, but it felt weird for Law to hang out with one of his ex-patients.

                Luffy pouted as the same disappointed look on his eyes appeared like last time with the tattoos and Law had to glance away to not let himself get distracted and say something he doesn’t mean again. “Hmmm, okay” Luffy smiled once again and patted Law’s shoulder with a laugh. “Next time, next time we’ll hang out!” he said as if making those meaningless words a promise that Law needed to fulfill. It was obvious that Law wasn’t planning on seeing Luffy again, but anything that could get him off of him worked.

                “I need to go now,” Law said and Luffy bid him farewell, but Law didn’t.

                _He has a straw hat, eh?_ Law thought as he remembered the dreams he’d been having since Luffy arrived at his hospital. Law shook his head as he went back to his apartment and sat down on his couch again. _It’s just a coincidence, nothing else… right?_

Law closed his eyes for a moment and for a split second, he thought he had smelled the ocean. But that was just him being tired and bored, he just needed a good drink to calm him down.


	3. Chapter 2

“Let’s go!” Usopp yelled as he, Luffy and Chopper enthusiastically run to the arcade downtown. After driving all morning to the hospital, the straw hat squad finally could go and have fun the rest of the day. Sanji grabbed the back of Luffy’s shirt and handed him his usual lunch box.

“You almost forgot this, idiot”

“Thanks, Sanji!” Luffy said with a big smile as he turned back to follow Usopp and Chopper. When Luffy catch up to them, Usopp and Chopper were already at the machines playing a fighting game. Luffy smirked as he put an arm around Usopp’s shoulder. “I wanna go next after you die”

Usopp snickered. “As if that’s gonna happen, asshole” he smirked back. Luffy opened his lunch box and licked his lips as he saw the delicious looking onigiris Sanji had packed for him. He was about to grab one and eat it when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned around and a tall muscular blonde man looked at Luffy with a bored expression.

“No food allowed in here”

“Aww, come on Bellamy! We’re friends”

“Just because we are doesn’t mean you can break the rules”

“Come on, I’ll give ya one!” Luffy said with a grin as he offered one onigiri. Bellamy stared at him before grabbing the onigiri and kicking him out of the arcade.

“No food allowed,” he said before eating the whole onigiri and going back to the arcade. Luffy pouted before sticking his tongue out to Bellamy’s back. He stood up and with lunch box in hands, looked for a place near the arcade to sit. He noticed Zoro sleeping in one of the benches and with a smile walked up to him.

“Zoro!”

“Luffy,” Zoro said, not even opening his eyes to see him. Luffy sat next to him and munch on all the onigiri left. “Whersh evewryone?” He asked with his mouth full and still eating.

“Franky and Robin are on a date, Nami went to the nearby casino, Sanji went to flirt with women probably and Brook is in a music store looking for some CDs”

“Don’t you have a place you want to go to?” Luffy asked looking at Zoro with a frown. It wasn’t fair for his best friend to not be enjoying his time while the rest was. No one gets left behind, is what Luffy always thinks when he’s with friends. Not to mention that movie about an alien dog and a little human was entertaining and sad. “Man, I love stitch,” he said as he continued to eat before stopping midway and offering Zoro one.

Zoro opened his good eye and glanced at Luffy with his stoic expression. “No thanks,” he said before closing it again. Luffy shrugged and finished the onigiri before sighing in satisfaction and setting the lunch box aside. Man, he was so full. Sanji’s cooking is the best; it was no surprise when Sanji decided to open up his own restaurant.

“Mike, be careful,” a small voice said and Luffy watched how a petit little boy fell down while running. The little boy sat up and started crying since he bruised his knees; another boy, a little taller than the first one came running to him and put a hand on the short one’s head while the other was carefully placed on the injured knee. “Idiot, I told you to be more careful”

“I’m sorry Nick” Mike cried. Nick sighed and took out some Band-Aids from his pockets. He placed the Band-Aids on his little brother’s knees and helped him get up. Nick ruffled Mike’s brunet hair while the other smiled at him as tears stopped going down his face. Both brothers held hands as they ran to where their mother was calling them.

Luffy smiles, Ace used to be like that too. “Good old times” he mumbled. Ace, huh? He won’t be there anymore to look out for Luffy when he gets sick or when he would get small injuries in his work as a fireman. He’s gotten beat up and received a lot of wounds through all his life. Ace had always been there to patch him up or to help him get up and encourage him to continue being strong. Heck, there were even times were Luffy had to patch Ace up.

Well, not quite. He was no doctor like Torao or Chopper. He was a fireman, but he had to learn _at least_ how to properly bandage wounds. Luffy still remembered how Ace would tease him and commented how bad he was at it. Luffy would pout and intentionally pour a little extra alcohol on the wound so it burned Ace. “Luffy” Zoro’s voice snapped Luffy from his thoughts and looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“Wanna go take a walk or are you going back to the arcade?”

“Hmmm” Luffy frowned and put his chin on his right hand. He had finished eating the onigiri and he can finally go back to play some games with Usopp and Chopper, but it would be rude to leave Zoro here alone. Especially since he is the only one who isn’t enjoying his free time before the movie they were supposed to be watching that day started.

“Sure!” he finally said. Zoro nodded and stood up. Luffy did too and both of them started to walk around downtown. A lot of people were passing by and they waved whenever they saw a familiar face.

“How’s work?” Luffy asked, getting extremely bored with the silence.

“Same as usual”

“It must be tough working with Mihawk and Perona, right?”

“Ugh, don’t mention her” Zoro groaned as Luffy giggled. Luffy was about to say something when he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to look at it and noticed a marine talking to one of his co-workers Luffy assumed. However, the white and blinding uniform reminded Luffy of **_that time_**. Luffy could still feel the hands on his neck choking him and the burning sensation in his chest. He could still feel blood dripping everywhere from his body and Luffy’s breath started to get short.

Then, Luffy saw nothing but darkness and felt his back hit against Zoro’s chest. Zoro’s hand was covering his eyes and Luffy didn’t say anything. “I’ll protect you this time” Zoro was glaring at the marines, a ghostly throb in his left leg made his blood boil.

“I can take care of myself Zoro!” Luffy said with a smile, not wanting to worry his friend. Zoro huffed as he let go of Luffy and let him turned around to face Zoro.

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you,” Zoro said, folding his arms. Luffy laughed as he nudged Zoro.

“Let’s see if you still say that when I protect you of scary monsters,” Luffy said and then stuck his tongue out. Zoro felt the corner of his lips twitch and wrapped an arm around Luffy while messing his hair.

“Why you little!” Zoro said while Luffy laughed. At the distance, Sanji was staring at them with a serious expression. A cigarette on his lips; Robin chuckled beside him as she also stared at the distance how Zoro and Luffy seemed very close.

She glanced at Sanji and smirked. “Are you jealous, Sanji?”

Sanji snorted. “Me? Jealous? Come on Robin-san! You know I only have eyes for you and Nami” He said with a smile on his face. Robin hummed in thought and smiled back at Sanji.

“Well then, you don’t mind telling Luffy and Zoro that we’re about to go to the cinema already, right?”

“O-Of course, Robin-chwan! Anything for you” He said with a bow before walking towards Luffy and Zoro. Franky walked up to Robin’s side with a chuckle and wrapped his arm around Robin’s waist.

“Is there something interesting going on?”

Robin leaned her head on Franky’s shoulder. “Very interesting indeed”

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Everyone was laughing and having such a great time drinking, but Law couldn’t get Luffy out of his head. Now that he looks back on it, Luffy never said anything with regards to how he ended up so badly injured like that. Not to mention that Bepo said when they arrived at the scene, someone who was injured too begged for Luffy to be healed first and ran off.

“Come on Law! You should enjoy yourself too” Penguin said as he ordered the bartender another beer. Law sighed and took another sip from his own cold beer. There was something suspicious about all of this. However, Law never dared to ask why Luffy ended up in a situation like that. He was too broken after this Ace guy’s death and Law was pretty sure that if he asked, it would only bring horrible memories to Luffy. Ever since Luffy tried to do _**that** _ Law never bother to ask, it would hurt Luffy more than heal him.

“You didn’t have to force yourself to come if you didn’t want to” Bepo said, taking the seat next to Law. Law huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Too late I guess,” Law said. Law looked at Bepo, was there something he was keeping from him about Luffy’s time in the hospital? “Say, Bepo”

“Hm?”

“What did the guy who ran away with injuries look like?”

“Oh, let’s see” Bepo hummed as he tried to remember. “He had green hair and… I think he had a scar on his left eye”

Law stared at his beer with a solemn expression. _A scar on his left eye, huh? That most have been Zoro-ya_ Law thought. He snickered and shook his head; what the heck was he doing? It was not his business to know. Luffy might consider him a friend, but Law knows that it’s not the case at all. There is no reason to get himself involved in problems that are probably not his own.

_“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!?” Law shouted as he looked horrified how Luffy stood on the edge of the hospital rooftop. Luffy looked back at him and smile sadly at him, his eyes dead after his eyesight recover._

_“Doctor Torao, I’ll be leaving now,” He said. “Ace is calling me”_

_“You…” For a moment, Law saw himself as a kid in the place where Luffy was._ Not like this _Law thought. He took another step closer, but Luffy looked at him a frown. “Please step down”_

_“I can’t”_

_“ **Yes you can,** ” Law said raising his tone. “I know it hurts to lose someone important like that, I also lost someone like that in the past too”_

_Luffy stared at him, his black hair swaying from the wind. Law cleared his throat before speaking again. “But you know what? It will hurt. It would always hurt. The issue of death is something selfish; we miss that person because we want them to be with us. It doesn’t hurt that they leave, but that we won’t see them again”_

_“Hmmm”_

_“You want to honor Ace’s memory? Live as normally as you can. Toast to that person every once in a while, visit their resting place, take care of the ones that are still alive but live as normally as you can. I’m sure Ace wouldn’t want to hear from the heavens that you are sad because you will make him worry… and if you think their death is unfair, live for them. If it’s necessary, you can even avenge them… but please, step down from there” Law’s voice crack at the end and he didn’t know why he was crying. Something about losing Luffy terrified him even though they didn’t know each other that well._

_Luffy frowned and let tears run down his onyx eyes before stepping down and running to cry on Law’s shoulder. Law bit his lip as he hugged Luffy back and let him cry on his shoulder. The boy had been through a lot, that was for sure, but he was glad that he was able to stop him or who knows what would have happened._

“Law?”

Law blinked and looked at Bepo, who was looking at him with a worried expression. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Are you okay? Did something happen this afternoon?”

“Not really,” Law said, finishing his beer. “I should get going now, tell everyone I said thanks”

Bepo blinked and watched as Law left the bar. “Did I hear correctly? He wants me to tell everyone he said _thanks_!?”

“Well, looks like something _did_ happen in the afternoon, don’t ya think?” The red-haired bartender said with a smirk. Bepo hummed in thought, Law has been acting weird since they arrived at the bar. _Could it be…_ Bepo looked at the entrance of the bar with a worry expression. Guess he needed to talk to Law about it tomorrow, hopefully, he would at least open up a little.

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_The gun in Ace’s hand clicked and Luffy stared at his older brother with a blank expression. Ace looked at Luffy with a comforting smile, but his eyes showed worry. Whether he was worried about what he was getting into or about Luffy, he didn’t know. He never knew what people were thinking, that was something Robin was always good at._

_“Don’t give me that look, Luffy”_

_“What look?”_

_“You know which one” Ace said as he put the gun on his holster. “Anyways, I’ll be back”_

_Luffy watched how Ace put on a black hoodie and grabbed the navy blue backpack resting on the couch of Ace’s apartment._ So much for coming to stay over that night, huh? _Luffy followed Ace to the door and without warning hugged Ace from behind. Ace stood still and Luffy wondered what kind of face he was making right now._

_“I’ll see you tomorrow”_

_“Yeah… I’ll see you tomorrow” Ace whispered. Luffy bit his lip and tighten his hold on Ace before letting him go and closing the door. Luffy rested his forehead against the door, still sensing Ace’s presence behind it. The sound of footsteps started to get further and further away until there was nothing but silence._

_Luffy sighed and slapped both of his hands on his face. “He’ll be back, he always does!” Luffy said as he went to Ace’s bedroom and plopped on his bed. Luffy stared with a blank expression at the ceiling before closing his eyes. Ace will be back… Ace will be back… Ace will…._

Luffy woke up and stared at the familiar ceiling of the boat he and his squad lived on. Based on the sky from the small window close to his bed, it was still night and the stars were still there. Luffy looked for his phone and noticed it was 3:50 a.m. on a Monday. Luffy sat up and glanced over at his roommate, who had his eyes closed.

“Zoro, are you awake?”  Luffy asked, not bothering to even lower his voice. Zoro didn’t answer him, so Luffy jumped out of his bed and left their room. Luffy walked up to the kitchen and frowned when he noticed the padlock on the fridge. Damn, that Sanji. Luffy sighed and decided to go out to take some fresh air on the main deck.

“Hey Ace,” Luffy said as he leaned his arms on the railing while looking up at the sky. “I’m doing fine right now, I still haven’t been able to catch the bastard who killed you… but Brook says he is working on it” Luffy stayed quiet for a moment, letting the breeze hit his face. He looked down at the ocean and there was that unsettling fear of drowning again.

Luffy looked up at the crescent moon and felt much more at ease. Luffy rested his head on his arms and pouted. Luffy knows it’s selfish, that at his age he should already know it was just downright impossible. But… he still believed Ace will be back. First Sabo and now Ace, huh? Luffy leaned away as he shook his head and slapped both of his hands on his face.

“Live as normally as you can…” Luffy said as he remembered Law’s words. Speaking of Law, he needed to stop by the hospital to ask him for his phone number and maybe they could hang out after Law is finished with his work! Luffy smiled. “Yeah, that sounds nice,” He said and went back to his room with a grin plastered on his face. He put on some clothes and quickly bolted outside, waking up some of his friends in the process.

Luffy didn’t care, he needed to go to the hospital right now and talk to Law. Law would always keep him company and even gave him some good advice at that time too. Luffy took his bicycle and as he laughed, he started to ride from his boat-house to the hospital Gran Line where Law worked. Thinking of Law made Luffy happy as if he had known him for a long time. Maybe he had! Robin said that perhaps Luffy was someone great on his past life.

“Excuse me, where is Torao’s office?” Luffy said after leaving his bicycle on the parking rack and bolted inside the hospital. The receptionist looked at him confused and asked for more details on this _Torao_. “Torao! Ya know? A tall dude with cool tattoos on his hands and an angry face”

The receptionist stared at him before bursting out laughing. “Oh shit, you mean Law?”

“Where is he?”

“Hold on,” The receptionist guy said before giggling and calmed down after a while. “I’ll take you to his office,” He said, standing up and telling the other guy who couldn’t stop laughing to cover for him. Luffy tilted his head with a confused frown. Nevertheless, Luffy followed the guy with the green and red hat.

“You know who I’m talking about, right?”

“Yeah, I know **_exactly_** who you were describing,” he said. “He’s my friend actually! I’m Shachi by the way”

“Luffy,” Luffy said with a nod. Shachi and Luffy entered the elevator and Shachi pressed the third floor. They were both waiting in an awkward silence until Shachi cleared his throat.

“So, what brings you back here?”

Luffy grinned. “I want to ask his phone number and hang out with him”

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_Voices could be heard from a distant and Law blinked as he tried to see where exactly he was. This didn’t look familiar to him and he was started to get paranoid. He sat up and tried to look for a door to escape, where was his sword anyway? This was all weird and new to him. Had the marines finally caught him? Shit, he needed to get out of there fast if that was the case._

_“Are you insane!? Just when he finally got to One Piece” a voice extremely close to the door said, Law felt like that voice was familiar somehow. Someone kicked the door opened and there a Sanji with hair tied in a ponytail stood, a cigarette on his lips like usual. Law blinked and looked at Sanji dumbfounded._

_“Black leg-ya?”_

_“Good, you’re awake,” Sanji said. “LUFFY, HE’S AWAKE!” He yelled. As soon as he said that, Sanji left and the sound of running footsteps was drawing nearer. Before Law could have time to process everything, Luffy appeared with a big grin on his face and jumped to him._

_“TORAO!” Luffy shouted. Law yelped as he fell back down to the bed with Luffy on his arms. Luffy laughed and rested his hands on Law’s shoulder, his onyx eyes looking directly on his eyes. “It’s been a long time!”_

_“Mugiwara-ya, what’s the meaning of this!?” Law said in an annoyed tone. Luffy giggled and Law felt the corner of his lips twitch. He sighed as he ran a hand through Luffy’s hair. Luffy looked at him with a smile and a soft look on his eyes Law couldn’t put a finger on. “What the hell did you do this time, idiot?” Law sounded so happy that he couldn’t help but smile back and Luffy was about to say something, but a female voice interrupted them._

_“Ahem, I don’t mean to interrupt such a romantic reunion,” Robin said with a smirk on her face. “But I believe the heart pirates need to see their captain”_

_Law felt his cheeks warm and cleared his throat as Luffy get off of him with a pout. “S-Sure, I’ll be right there”_

“What the flying fuck!?” Law said, snapping his eyes open. He sat up and groaned as he buried his face in his hands. What kind of fucked up dream was that? Dreaming with one of his ex-patients so intimate like that and why was he already dreaming of Luffy’s friends!? None of this was making sense to Law. He got out of his bed and changed his clothes to go to the hospital.

“Morning Law!”

“Good morning, Law!”

“Shachi, Penguin” Law nodded at them in agreement. “I’ll be at my office,” he said. He went to the elevator and pushed the third floor. He stared at the platinum doors with a lost expression. He needed to not get himself involved with Luffy or his dreams would just get weirder and weirder. Why was he intimate with that guy anyway? They barely know each other and… Luffy is not even his type.

“Law!”

“Morning, Bepo” Law mumbled as he got off the elevator.

“Why are you here so early?”

“I need to be here before it hits four, I’ve always come at this hour too,” Law said with an eyebrow raised. “Seriously Bepo?”

Bepo huffed and frowned. Law chuckled at his friend and told Bepo that he was going to be in his office and to call if there was an emergency. When Law finally made it to his office, he was already ordering some papers and checking everything that needed to be done that day. That is until a knock on his door made his concentration break and with an angry frown told the person to come in.

“Law, you have a visit,” Shachi said with a smirk on his face. After Shachi said that, Luffy walked inside as if he owned the damn place and with a grin as wide as the one in his dreams he sat on the chair in front of his desk.

“Torao, let’s hang out!” he said.

Law glared at Shachi, but Shachi was already leaving and closing the door on his way out. “Mugiwara-ya, why are you here?” Law said in a serious tone. Why was God so cruel towards him anyways? It doesn’t help that weird dream where he and Luffy seemed… no, he didn’t even want to think about it.

“I came here to ask for your phone number and if we could hang out today after your work ends,” Luffy said as if what he said was the most normal thing to do at this hour of the morning. Law blinked and glanced at the clock walk on his room. It was 4: 40 a.m. and this boy seriously came to his office **_just_** for that?

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Yeah! So when do you get off work?” Luffy asked and Law couldn’t help but be surprised at how genuine Luffy sounded right now. Deep down, it doesn’t surprise him somehow. Law had a feeling that Luffy is like a wildcard, you wouldn’t be able to guess what he could do next.

Law sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s complicated, but if you want we could go out on my lunch breeeeee… ak” Law realized what he had said too late and watched with wide eyes how Luffy was looking at him with a happy smile it was almost blinding. What in the word is Law thinking!? He already decided not to get involve with Luffy since it wasn’t his problem, so why is he doing the exact opposite?

“Nice, when is that? I hope soon”

“It’s not soon,” Law said as he rested his head on his right hand. “My lunch break is like at twelve in the afternoon or sometimes at three”

Luffy nodded with his eyes closed before opening them. “So soon, right?”

“What? No” Law’s left eye twitched. Luffy frowned and pouted like a small kid it was almost adorable. Almost.

“Can’t it be sooner? I want to hang out with you already!”

“You’ll have to wait until later on, why don’t you go and do something for the time being?”

“But… but…”

“But what?” Law asked, feeling a little impatient. Luffy’s stomach growled as if it was yelling at his owner to feed him or he’ll die. Any normal person would probably be laughing, but Law was looking at Luffy with certain annoyance because he knew exactly what Luffy was about to say next. Much to his dismay, why God, why?

“I’m hungry, let’s go eat together” Luffy’s frowned transformed to a smile. Law tap with his index finger his desk and think if it was actually a good idea to go out with Luffy to eat and involve himself more than he probably should have or stay here in his office hearing Luffy whine about being hungry until who knows how long.

Law sighed again. “Fine” Luffy threw his arms in the air and let out a ‘ _Yahoo!_ ’ that may or may not cause Law to snicker. This guy was such a funny idiot, it was almost cute. Almost, Law didn’t say it was, okay?

“So, where are we going out to eat?” Luffy asked as he followed Law out of his office. Law closed his eyes and massaged his right temple.

“Cafeteria, obviously”

“Do they have meat there?”

“I guess?” he said, but it sounded more like a question. Law still wonders why he is outside of his office. No, why was Luffy here? Law knows better than to involve himself in things that aren’t his problems, last time he did… it didn’t end well. He can still feel those piercing eyes behind the red glasses and it made him shudder. Law was extremely thankful to Bepo for saving him that one time.

“Torao, can I ask you something?” Luffy spoke after they entered the elevator and Law hit the first-floor button.

“What kind of question?”

“Do you know of a guy with spiky red hair? He has this square looking goggles and a scar on his left eye, you know?” Luffy asked, his voice getting unusually quiet. Law stopped dead on his tracks and turned to look at Luffy with wide eyes. _Kid_ Law thought. Guess he and Luffy were bound to get involved with one another either way, huh?


End file.
